Published 5:30 am, Monday, October 11, 2004

St. Louis advanced to the NL championship series for the third time in five years, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 Sunday night to win their first-round playoff 3-1.

Jeff Suppan settled down after a shaky start, Pujols hit a tiebreaking, three-run homer off loser Wilson Alvarez in the fourth inning and the Cardinals kept the Dodgers searching for their first postseason series victory since they won the 1988 World Series.

After Jason Isringhausen struck out Alex Cora to end the game, members of both teams met in the middle of the field and shook hands, and the fans stood and applauded.

"I think it was good sportsmanship, and I was glad to be a part of it. It's great for the game," Suppan said.

While common at the end of playoff series in the NHL, teams shaking hands on the field after a series is a rarity in baseball — it happened after Minnesota's 10-inning win over Atlanta in Game 7 of the 1991 World Series.

"I think it was a professional show of class between two very classy organizations," Dodgers manager Jim Tracy said. "To play this series the way it was played with the intensity it was played, it said a lot."

St. Louis, a major league-best 105-57 during the regular season, starts the NLCS at home Wednesday against the winner of tonight's fifth game between Atlanta and the Astros. The Cardinals are trying to become the first team with the top regular-season record to win the World Series since the 1998 New York Yankees.

"We showed a lot of heart, just like they did," said Cardinals outfielder Larry Walker, who had two hits, walked twice and scored three runs in the finale. "We have an opportunity, but we want to stay at an even keel — except for this half hour here when we can act like a bunch of fools."

Pujols had two hits, a walk and four RBIs drove in four runs. He went 5-of-15 with two homers in the series.

As Pujols' towering fly ball sailed just over left fielder Jayson Werth into the lower left-field stands, the raucous crowd of 56,268 — the largest in Dodger Stadium history — went silent. Pujols delivered on a 3-1 pitch for his second homer of the series.

"From the way he swung at that pitch, something tells me he didn't hit a strike," Tracy said.